Red carpets, Italian Calacatta marble, and bougainvillea trees are just the beginning at Lisbon’s stylish Rocco.

Set in The Ivens Hotel, Rocco serves up more than just perfectly crafted cocktails and moreish food. This exuberantly gussied-up restaurant feels like an elegant house party with sophisticated surrounds that beg to be explored.

The atmosphere of a grand residence is furthered by the layout, which offers four separate and distinctively decorated areas, each of which packs a luxurious punch. All are a product of the partnership between restaurant group Plateform and acclaimed interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán. 

The Gastro Bar has a majestic presence and feels a world away from the busy city just outside. An oval bar commands the space. Its lustrous design—a veined marble top and wooden base dotted with brass-framed inlays of red velvet—is capped with a multi-tiered brass wine rack suspended from above. A curved wall that displays even more softly lit bottles of wine hugs the bar. The floor is chequered marble, and the stools are a mashup of colour, texture, and pattern with rich red leather seats and upholstered floral chintz backs. They are a stylish perch for people-watching and enjoying a plate of Salt Cod à Brás.

The Crudo Bar channels an Amalfi Coast vibe with a warm, sun-and-sky palette, leafy green plants, and gallery walls of beachy photos. Inviting place settings are punctuated with hand-blown turquoise glasses, but the bar itself enchants. Clad in hand-made, high-relief tiles decorated with shellfish, it subtly conjures elegant coastal dining, while rattan stools keep the vibe relaxed, almost cozy.

The Ristorante specializes in Mediterranean-inspired dishes and has a grand Old-World Italian aesthetic. Sympathetic golden lighting and panelled wood walls and ceilings the colour of caramel set the romantic mood here. Emerald glassware on the tabletops lends graphic intrigue, and banquette seating peppered with plush cushions invites lingering over lobster linguine. 

It’s hard to believe The Terrazza is in the middle of bustling Lisbon. An outdoor extension of the Ristorante, it has a retractable roof and an elaborate stone fountain that exudes lively alfresco energy. Lime-green lattice, riotous floral wallpaper, and a collection of real lemon and bougainvillea trees play up the fresh yet slightly decadent terrace mood. 

Even the bathroom at Rocco is swoony. It’s a voluptuous space that feels like an art installation with colour, pattern, and texture splashed on every surface. Diana Vreeland said, “the eye has to travel,” and it can’t help but do that here. The curved ceiling and walls are dressed in floral-print fabrics, sinks are carved out of heavily veined Calacatta marble, and the floor is an intricate composition of tiny mosaic tiles arranged in botanical shapes to echo the walls—it’s a stunner. 

Any experience at Rocco, from a coffee at breakfast to a light lunch or romantic dinner, will make an impression—and don’t be surprised if it inspires a design rethink. After all, it is surprisingly easy to get used to the reassuring dynamism of dramatic design. 

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